She had been quiet all day, barely glancing up and saying "Hello" when he made it to the office.
He had known better than to question why she had driven alone. She felt no need to bring it up.
Tony was a smart man; he had quickly put the pieces together that she had found the ring. What was holding him up, however, was why that would make her upset. He thought most women would be happy to find an engagement ring their significant other had squirreled away for the perfect moment.
He never thought he'd be getting the cold shoulder when she stumbled upon an expression of 'forever.'
Yet, here it was. Her very, very cold shoulder.
Gibbs had arched an eyebrow in Tony's direction when he picked up on Ziva's distant attitude. Tony had subtlety shrugged before both men returned to the paperwork for the case they had just wrapped up.
Forty years ago, then-Petty-Officer Galleria had jilted his lover, leaving her for the woman he fell in love with. Two weeks ago, Mrs Galleria had been found in her home, shot and then violently slashed.
It had taken almost a full week to drag the true story of his romances out of the now retired Officer Galleria. Years of hiding his affair had made the topic one that he was reluctant to discuss, despite his happy marriage to his wife and their kids and grandkids.
"It was like he was haunted," McGee had commented when they all sat down to begin their reports. "Like the memory of Katherine Merola was this ghost that Galleria couldn't shake for all these years."
Ziva had blinked and stopped mid-keystroke. "And his wife was equally as haunted, McGee. And it was that ghost that finally ended their marriage."
"Ghosts can't kill, Ziva," McGee said with a chuckle, thinking she was joking.
Ziva stood, threw her laptop into her bag and then shouldered her pack. "Some ghosts do more damage than we think," she merely said. "Going to lunch, Gibbs."
And for the first time in years, Ziva took her lunch break away from the team and out of the office.
When the elevator closed behind her, McGee and Gibbs' head snapped to Tony and two sets of eyes glared at the agent.
"Tony, what did you do?" McGee questioned, his glare almost as strong as Gibbs'. While he was sure that, if it came to it, Tony could truly kick his ass, he was sure that it was a battle he'd happily fight to stand up for Ziva.
He was also sure that if she knew he was thinking of standing up for her, she'd kick his ass herself.
"I don't know," Tony said, letting his head drop to his desk with a thump as his forehead made impact with his desktop.
"Well you'd better figure it out, DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked. "Because you might lose more than a roomate! That was the same look my ex wives gave to me before they talked to a lawyer."
